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Periodic Markets
A periodic market is a type of market whose meetings are separated by market-less days. Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok is a prime example of this. It is bustling with people on the weekends, but for the rest of the week it is merely a conglomeration of tents and closed shop fronts.
Periodic marketing is a very traditional institution. It was characteristic of many indigenous societies prior to the colonial period of Southeast Asia. However, Thailand is the one country of the region that has never been colonized. Many of the periodic markets in Bangkok date from this time period.
Development
Periodic markets developed due to a low density of demand for goods. These types of markets concentrate sales into a short time period, favoring the areas in the hinterlands of least developed countries (LDCs) with a low population density and low per-capita income. The higher density and higher per-capita income of Third World cities favors a static market system where the threshold of a good falls within its range.
Periodic market systems also developed because many of the vendors were mobile, as well as only operate part-time. Mobile forms of markets are likely to be more profitable because they can reach more people. Periodic markets reduce the distance that a buyer must travel to obtain required goods and services. Periodic markets are also advantageous because in the hinterlands they permit the dense distribution of market towns which serve the spatially distanced villagers, instead of allowing only a few towns to have markets and forcing the rest of the population to commute.
Urban Functions
In a city, the periodic markets have a unique functions. While in the agricultural hinterland, markets supply peasants with manufactured goods. In the urban areas, periodic markets have the reverse role. They function to supply urban-oriented middle men with rural goods from small-scale individuals. These markets are most likely periodic to enable the traders to travel back into the hinterland to restock up on local foodstuffs and handicrafts to sell back in the city at the next market meeting.
Markets in General